Written Answers Wednesday 14 December 2005

Scottish Executive

Allotments

Trish Godman (West Renfrewshire) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what recent discussions have taken place with COSLA and other interested parties anent the implementation of guidelines to assist local authorities to manage existing allotment sites and to create such sites in urban settings.

George Lyon: As the provision and management of allotments is a matter for local authorities rather than the Executive, it was agreed with COSLA that they would take the lead on the development of best practice guidelines. We understand that COSLA has met with the City of Edinburgh Council to discuss a framework for guidelines and is currently consulting more widely on this issue.

Allotments

Trish Godman (West Renfrewshire) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to amend extant legislation concerning the management and creation of allotment sites.

George Lyon: Local authorities are best placed to assess the needs of their communities and develop policy on the provisions and management of allotments. As current legislation does not appear to cause difficulties for local authorities in this respect, there are no plans for amendment.

Allotments

Trish Godman (West Renfrewshire) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what recent representations have been received concerning the management of allotment sites by local authorities and the feasibility of amending extant legislation in respect of such matters.

George Lyon: During the past six months, one letter has been received asking about the rights of allotment holders and the provision of national guidance on allotments. No representations have been received about the feasibility of amending existing legislation.

Cancer

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many deaths from cancer there have been in the south of Scotland in each year since the Chernobyl incident occurred, broken down by NHS board area.

George Lyon: The information requested is given in the following table.

  Deaths from Cancer1 in South of Scotland2 Between 26 April 1986 and 31 December 2004, by NHS Board Area

  

 
Ayrshire and Arran
(part)
Borders
Dumfries and Galloway
Lanarkshire
(part)
Lothian
(part)


19863
415
212
263
129
170


1987
641
316
446
176
231


1988
566
331
442
202
232


1989
620
338
437
218
227


1990
612
396
432
191
247


1991
624
344
453
212
244


1992
652
347
470
199
241


1993
687
373
440
223
279


1994
659
345
493
190
292


1995
694
320
463
206
292


1996
615
359
461
231
256


1997
662
345
454
228
266


1998
640
351
465
173
271


1999
654
355
433
227
264


2000
685
343
487
209
289


2001
630
347
478
226
270


2002
701
399
455
240
295


2003
654
354
536
241
279


2004
697
337
524
241
250



  Notes:

  1. Malignant neoplasms: 1986-99, ICD9 codes 140-208; 2000-04, ICD10 codes C00-C97.

  2. The South of Scotland Region includes the following constituencies: Ayr; Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley; Clydesdale; Cunninghame South; Dumfries; East Lothian; Galloway and Upper Nithsdale; Roxburgh and Berwickshire; Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale.

  3. 26 April 1986 to 31 December 1986.

Community Safety

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what grants were awarded for the provision of mobile CCTV cameras in crime and vandalism hotspots in the (a) West Dunbartonshire and (b) East Dunbartonshire local authority area in each of the last eight years.

Hugh Henry: No bids for funding for mobile CCTV cameras were received from the West Dunbartonshire or East Dunbartonshire local authority areas under the CCTV Challenge Competition which ran from 1996-97 to 2001-02.

Education

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to continue funding the Active Schools project at national level and ensure funding at local level.

Patricia Ferguson: Active Schools is an integral part of the Executive’s commitment to increasing levels of physical activity in our young people. Following the 2004 Scottish Budget funding of £12 million has been committed annually to supporting Active Schools. At a local level,  sportscotland has entered into investment agreements with all 32 local authorities to ensure local delivery within a national framework.

Equal Pay

Carolyn Leckie (Central Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-20703 by Malcolm Chisholm on 29 November 2005, what representations it has received from organisations seeking a meeting with it to discuss equal pay for women in local authority employment and whether it will agree to meet these organisations.

Mr Tom McCabe: The Convention of Scottish Local Authorities recently wrote to request a meeting to discuss equal pay issues generally, and that meeting will take place in due course.

Fisheries

Maureen Macmillan (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will announce the key performance targets it has set for Fisheries Research Services for 2005-06.

Ross Finnie: I have set the following targets for Fisheries Research Services for the financial year 2005-06.

  Delivery of Service:

  
To achieve 95% of the performance targets set in the schedules to the service level agreement.
  To achieve 86% of the milestones agreed for research and development projects.
  To achieve an output of 1.3 publications per scientific member of staff.
  To produce 22 information leaflets and 10 major articles in the industry press.


  Quality of Service:

  
To begin implementation of the Joint Code of Practice for Research issued by the BBSRC, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, FSA and NERC, and endorsed by Scottish Executive Environment and Rural Development Department, within two areas of the agency’s research.
  To submit the scientific work of the Aquaculture and Aquatic Animal Health Programme to a peer review during 2005-06, and to put in place an agreed action plan to implement recommendations by the end of March 2006.
  To achieve accreditation by the United Kingdom Accreditation Service to ISO 17025 standard of the monitoring programmes for four new areas of work by March 2006.


  Efficiency Targets:

  
94% of costs to be recovered from external customers (other than those agreed to be undertaken at marginal or shared costs).
  To restrict administrative staff costs to a maximum of 18% of the total staff costs.
  To achieve a research vessel utilisation of 96%, operating at a daily cost of £12,689 for Scotia and £3,665 for Clupea.
  To achieve cash releasing efficiency gains to the value of 1% of FRS’ budget.


  These targets should provide a sound basis for evaluating performance by establishing a time series for certain indicators and by requiring external scrutiny by accreditors and scientific peers.

G8 Summit

Scott Barrie (Dunfermline West) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on the economic impacts of the G8 summit and related events.

Mr Tom McCabe: The Scottish Executive commissioned an independent study to estimate the summit’s economic impact, including benefits and costs. I am publishing the study today. Copies of the study have been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 38309).

  The G8 summit offered an unprecedented opportunity to promote Scotland on the international stage. The first-class policing and security operation underlined once again that Scotland is a great location for hosting major events. The Executive ensured we made the most of the opportunity G8 offered to promote Scotland.

  The G8 summit also delivered economic benefits for Scotland. There were clearly costs to the Executive associated with hosting a high-profile event of this magnitude. But the summit also delivered immediate and longer term economic benefits.

  The study includes a detailed assessment of the economic impact of the summit. The key findings were:

  
additional spending directly associated with the G8 summit was worth almost £65 million to the Scottish economy, while the net cost to the Scottish Executive was £60 million;
  the value of the worldwide media coverage immediately around the time of the summit has been calculated at over £66 million;
  using this figure, the report estimated the longer term pattern of coverage to be £618 million over the six months up to and including the summit despite the inevitable impact of the London terror attacks on the first full day of the summit, and
  the most important impacts will occur over the next few years as the increased profile that Scotland generated takes effect and is used to create new economic opportunities.

G8 Summit

Scott Barrie (Dunfermline West) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what costs it will reimburse to local authorities following the G8 summit and related events.

Mr Tom McCabe: Additional funding will be provided to three councils to meet the full cost of agreed additional expenditure incurred in connection with measures put in place in connection with the G8 summit. The councils and the amounts involved are shown in the following table.

  

 
Amount(£000)


City of Edinburgh Council
3,059


Perth and Kinross Council
261


Stirling Council
15



  Other councils – including Highland, Inverness, Angus, Dundee and Aberdeen – are also receiving funding of around £7,000 for promotional activities and events associated with the summit, including particularly the installation of G8 welcome banners.

  Health boards involved in G8 emergency planning have also received the full cost of agreed additional expenditure. The authorities and the amounts involved are shown in the following table.

  

 
Amount(£000)


Tayside
500


Lothian
400


Forth Valley
200


Scottish Ambulance Service
1,260

H5N1 Influenza

Bruce Crawford (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the ordering process will be for any future vaccine to deal with a flu pandemic.

Mr Andy Kerr: I refer the member to the answers to questions S2W-20320 on 14 November 2005 and S2W-20687 on 28 November 2005. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

H5N1 Influenza

Bruce Crawford (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what length of time it estimates that it will take to develop a vaccine to deal with a flu pandemic from the date of the first officially recognised diagnosis by the World Health Organisation.

Bruce Crawford (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what its estimates are of the (a) minimum and (b) maximum number of deaths that could result from a flu pandemic.

Bruce Crawford (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of the population will be able to receive anti-viral drugs in the event of an outbreak of a flu pandemic.

Mr Andy Kerr: The information requested is given in the document entitled Scottish Executive Health Department – UK Influenza Pandemic Contingency Plan – October 2005 . A copy of which is available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib number 38353).

H5N1 Influenza

Bruce Crawford (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide a priority list of categories of people who will receive anti-viral drugs in the event of a flu pandemic.

Mr Andy Kerr: A stockpile of anti-viral drugs is currently being established. When complete the stockpile will be sufficient to treat 25% of the population. Until the stockpile is complete the priority list is as set out in the document entitled Scottish Executive Health Department – UK Influenza Pandemic Contingency Plan – October 2005 . A copy of which is available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 38353).

H5N1 Influenza

Bruce Crawford (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive by which date it expects to have acquired the amount of anti-viral drugs it considers will be required to deal with a flu pandemic.

Mr Andy Kerr: I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-19843 on 7 November 2005. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

Health

Carolyn Leckie (Central Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many medical patients have been placed in non-medical wards in each of the last five years.

Mr Andy Kerr: The information requested is not centrally available.

  Information collected nationally on hospital in-patient and day case discharges records the specialty of the consultant responsible for the care of the patient. Information on wards within hospitals is not captured on central returns.

Health

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost per patient treated in hospital was in each NHS board in each of the last 10 years and what information it has on the comparative cost in each strategic health authority in England.

Mr Andy Kerr: Details of the average costs of treating patients in each NHS board area are available in Scottish Health Service Costs (The Costs Book) produced by the Information Services Division of NHS National Services Scotland (ISD) at: www.isdscotland.org/isd/ .

  The Costs Book is produced each year and paper copies are available for years prior to 2000 from ISD, contact information is provided on the website.

  Information on treatment costs in England is available from the Department of Health website at: www.dh.gov.uk.

Ministerial Correspondence

Scott Barrie (Dunfermline West) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what its performance was in answering ministerial correspondence in the second quarter of 2005.

Ms Margaret Curran: In the answer to question S1W-24583 on 28 March 2002, I undertook to continue to report quarterly on the numbers of letters received by ministers and our performance in answering them.

  In the quarter April to June 2005, 3,116 letters were received for ministerial reply of which 79% received a reply within our target of 20 working days.

NHS Staff

Carolyn Leckie (Central Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the ratio of registered and non-registered hospital staff was to patients in medical beds in each of the last five years, broken down by NHS board.

Mr Andy Kerr: This information is not collected centrally. Patients in medical beds will be treated by a variety of staff groups. Registered and non-registered staff breakdowns are only available for nursing and midwifery and allied health professionals. However, information recorded for these staff groups does not allow the explicit identification of medical specialties so a ratio of staff to beds cannot be given.

New Futures Fund

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will continue to fund the services provided to people through the New Futures Fund when the fund ends in March 2006.

Allan Wilson: I wish to ensure continuity for people currently receiving a service through New Futures Fund (NFF) and to encourage more comprehensive and sustainable delivery of the NFF approach. From April 2006, Community Planning Partnerships (CPPs) will take the lead in developing the local infrastructure of support services, building on the work of current NFF projects and other support services in their areas. This is consistent with our approach to getting people back into work and the related employment outcomes set out by the CPPs within their Regeneration Outcomes Agreements

  I recognise the challenges associated with mainstreaming NFF and so propose to make available to a number of CPPs additional funding of up to £3.1 million in both 2006-07 and 2007-08. This is equivalent to the current costs of NFF.

  My officials will shortly be meeting with CPPs to discuss this in more detail. At the same time, the Enterprise Networks, which are currently responsible for NFF, will advise existing projects of these plans.

Non-Departmental Public Bodies

Jim Mather (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of members of boards of non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) live in Scotland (a) in total and (b) broken down by NDPB.

Tom McCabe: Information on all regulated NDPB appointees’ place of residence is in the public domain via the Executive’s public bodies website at: http://194.247.95.101/Topics/Government/public-bodies/directory/Q/apptlist/true .

Planning

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will revise National Planning Policy Guideline 14 on the Natural Environment to take account of the draft revised Scottish Forestry Strategy, due to be published in 2006.

Johann Lamont: We plan to begin a review of NPPG14 on Natural Heritage in the second quarter of 2006. Although it is too early to say what will be contained in the revised NPPG14, strategies such as the Scottish Forest Strategy will be considered as we take the review forward.

Prison Service

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-20911 by Cathy Jamieson on 5 December 2005, how Scottish ministers distinguish between passengers and prisoners.

Cathy Jamieson: The definitions used are in statute and are as follows:

  
"Passenger" means "a person other than a member of the crew", as defined by the Air Navigation Order 2005 (SI 2005 No. 1970) Article 155.
  "Prisoner" means "a person committed for trial, safe custody, punishment or otherwise", as defined by the Prisons (Scotland) Act 1989 Section 43(1).

Rendition Flights

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether, in light of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe’s decision to use his powers under Article 52 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) to launch a formal inquiry into the use of rendition flights and in light of reports that terrorist suspects may have been secretly detained in, or transported through, a number of Council of Europe member states with the possible involvement of foreign agencies, the Lord Advocate and the police will investigate whether any breach of the ECHR may have occurred in Scotland.

Elish Angiolini QC: While the Lord Advocate and the police have a duty to uphold the European Convention on Human Rights, their responsibility is for the investigation of crimes under Scots law. Torture, an attempt to commit torture, or conspiracy to commit torture are crimes punishable under Scots law at common law or under section 134 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 by imprisonment for a maximum period of life imprisonment. Where evidence exists to support allegations that such crimes have been committed within Scottish jurisdiction, or that torture has been committed elsewhere by or at the instigation of a public official who is subject to Scottish jurisdiction, the police will be responsible for conducting appropriate investigations and reporting such cases to the Procurator Fiscal.

  The Scottish Executive will of course assist the UK Government with any information sought in relation to inquiries made by the Secretary General of the Council of Europe in pursuance of his powers under Article 52 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Rendition Flights

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Lord Advocate has clarified the legal implications of the activation of Article 52 of the European Convention on Human Rights to investigate the deprivation of liberty resulting from the conduct of officials of foreign agencies in respect of alleged rendition flights landing in Scotland.

Elish Angiolini QC: A request by the Secretary General of the Council of Europe in terms of Article 52 is directed to national government, as a party to the Convention. As indicated in my previous answer to question S2W-21211 on 14 December 2005, the Scottish Executive will of course assist the UK Government with any information sought by the Secretary General of the Council of Europe in relation to any inquiries made by him in pursuance of his powers under Article 52 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

  All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Rendition Flights

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Lord Advocate has given advice in respect of the legal implications for Scottish public officials, including senior police officers, following the decision by the Secretary General of the Council of Europe to use his legal powers under Article 52 of the European Convention on Human Rights to investigate the use of rendition flights and whether it is aware that Scottish public officials may have, through action or omission, been aware of the deprivation of liberty by a foreign agency on Scottish soil and, if so, what advice the Lord Advocate has given in respect of this issue.

Elish Angiolini QC: The Scottish Executive does not generally disclose whether the advice of the Scottish Law Officers has been sought or obtained in relation to any particular matter. Any such advice would in any case be confidential. The request for information by the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, in terms of Article 52 of the European Convention of Human Rights, has been made to the UK Government, as a Party to the Convention and the Scottish Executive will assist the UK Government with any information required in order to fulfil the request made by the Secretary General.

  The Scottish Executive has no knowledge of any Scottish public official being aware of the deprivation of liberty of any person or persons by a foreign agency within Scottish jurisdiction.

Scottish Civic Forum

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether, in light of its and the Parliament’s commitment to engaging with the public and the current funding position of the Scottish Civic Forum which was set up to facilitate that engagement, the First Minister will respond personally to the concerns about its funding, raised with him by the Convener of the Scottish Civic Forum.

George Lyon: It is customary practice for the First Minister to ask the Minister or Deputy Minister with portfolio responsibility for a topic to reply to any letter about that topic. In this case, I responded fully to the convener’s letter setting out the Executive’s position.

Scottish Executive Advertising

Derek Brownlee (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost was of the third phase of the travel awareness campaign, Choose Another Way, and how much of that sum related to advertising costs.

Mr Tom McCabe: The travel awareness campaign, Choose Another Way is not running this financial year. The advertising spend for financial year 2003-04 was £219,928 and for 2004-05 was £265,101.

Scottish Executive Funding

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how it assesses the comparative value for money of grants to national youth organisations dealing with young people and volunteers.

Robert Brown: There is a rigorous process of assessing and evaluating individual applications to the Children, Young People and Families Unified Voluntary Sector Fund against the objectives and detailed criteria agreed by ministers. Value for money aspects are considered as part of this process and successful applications are selected only after detailed discussions among departments across the Executive. Progress against targets and outcomes are also monitored by the Executive.

Vaccines

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people aged (a) 65 and over and (b) under 65 and in a high risk category received the flu vaccine in each year from 1999 to 2004, broken down by NHS board area, expressed also as a percentage of eligible people in those two categories.

Mr Andy Kerr: The information you requested is as follows:

  
(a) I refer the member to the answer question S2W-19772 on 28 October 2005. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search. Data is only available from the year 2000.
  (b) This information is not centrally held.

Vaccines

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what data it has on the socio-economic background of people taking up the flu vaccine and where this data can be accessed.

Mr Andy Kerr: This information is not centrally available.